How to get a car accident report in Georgia

Where to get the report

• GDOT, through BuyCrash or by mail (statewide) $5 a copy; $2 more certified by mail

  Every state and local law enforcement agency must submit its crash reports to the Georgia Department of Transportation, within 14 days when filed electronically (§40-9-31), so GDOT’s repository covers city police, sheriffs and the State Patrol alike. GDOT’s Crash Reporting page says police crash reports are available through BuyCrash: you can buy one directly on the BuyCrash website or mail a request to GDOT on its request form. State law sets the fee GDOT or its third-party designee charges at $5.00 for each copy of a crash report it receives and maintains (§40-9-30). GDOT’s BuyCrash help guide says to select Georgia and All GA Agencies, then enter the last name of a driver, passenger, owner or pedestrian, the crash date, and one of the crash report number, a VIN or a driver’s license number; BuyCrash support is 1-866-215-2771. We did not confirm the total BuyCrash shows at checkout, so check it before you pay. By mail, send GDOT’s Individual Accident Report Request form with a signed statement of need to Georgia Dept. of Transportation, 935 United Ave. SE, Bldg 24, Atlanta, GA 30316. The form says reports cost $5 each with an additional $2 charge for a certified report, payment must be a money order or cashier’s check (no cash or personal checks), reports are mailed, and a mailed request takes at least two weeks.

  Official page

• Georgia State Patrol (Department of Public Safety) $5 through the EPORTS portal

  For a crash the Georgia State Patrol investigated, the Department of Public Safety says you may contact a local State Patrol post or its Open Records Unit. Its online portal, EPORTS, handles crash reports, incident reports and citations: you submit a request, available reports are generally processed within three business days, you get an email with a request number beginning “CRAS,” and you then pay and download the report. DPS’s Charging Chart lists a crash report at $5.00 each. You can also email openrecords@gsp.net, fax (404) 624-7529, or mail Georgia Department of Public Safety, Attention: Open Records Unit, 959 United Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30316 (phone (404) 624-7591). DPS publishes an Open Records Request Form for crash reports that asks how you are connected to the crash, but says it does not require the form. Send a request one way only: DPS says duplicate requests by more than one method are each answered and charged.

  Official page

• City police and sheriff’s offices From the agency, or GDOT’s copy

  If a city police department or sheriff’s office worked the crash, ask that agency’s records unit, or buy GDOT’s copy, since the agency must send its report to GDOT (§40-9-31). Each agency sets its own process and fee. Example, Gwinnett County Police only: its page says people involved in a collision in Gwinnett County, or their authorized legal or insurance representative, can get the report online through BuyCrash for a charge; hard copies are $5 at any of its seven precincts and offices, are typically ready four business days after the report was taken, and the status line is 770.513.5000.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Georgia

Injury or $500 damage: call police

Under O.C.G.A. §40-6-273, the driver of a vehicle in a crash resulting in injury to or death of any person, or property damage to an apparent extent of $500.00 or more, must immediately, by the quickest means of communication, notify the local police department if the crash happened inside a city, or otherwise the county sheriff’s office or the nearest State Patrol office. Section 40-6-273 states no penalty of its own; under §40-6-1(a), failing to perform an act the chapter requires is a misdemeanor unless the chapter says otherwise. Before that, you must stop. In a crash resulting in injury or death or in damage to a vehicle that is driven or attended by someone, §40-6-270(a) requires you to stop at or as close as possible to the scene, give your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving, show your driver’s license on request if you have it, give reasonable help to anyone injured (including transport to a doctor or hospital when treatment is apparently needed or the person asks), and, if an injured person is unconscious, appears dead or cannot communicate, make every reasonable effort to see that emergency medical services and local law enforcement are contacted; you must stay at the scene until you have done all of this. Knowingly failing to stop and comply is a felony punishable by one to five years in prison if the crash caused a death or serious injury (§40-6-270(b)), and otherwise a misdemeanor with a fine of $300.00 to $1,000.00, up to 12 months in jail, or both, for a first conviction (§40-6-270(c)(1)(A)). If you hit an unattended vehicle, stop and either find the driver or owner and give them your name and address and the owner’s, or leave that information in a written note in a conspicuous place on the vehicle you struck; failing to do so is a misdemeanor (§40-6-271). If you damage only a fixture on or beside a highway, take reasonable steps to notify the owner and give your name, address and registration number (§40-6-272). Section 40-6-274 says a driver in a crash “in which there is no personal injury or in which no second party and no property of a second party is involved” has no duty to stop or immediately report it, but that does not affect any written report a local law enforcement agency requires. Move the cars: on a public road, when a crash causes no apparent serious injury or death, the drivers (or another licensed occupant) must move the vehicles off the roadway to the shoulder, emergency lane, median or another safe place, if that can be done safely and the vehicle can be normally and safely driven without towing (§40-6-275(c)). Not doing so is a misdemeanor (§40-6-275(b)), and moving your car before police arrive does not by itself make you liable or at fault (§40-6-275(d)).

The driver report you may have to file

None to the state; ask local police

We found no Georgia statute and no Department of Driver Services form that requires a driver to file a crash report with the state, and the DDS forms pages list no accident report form. Some websites say Georgia drivers must send a report to DDS within 10 days; the current text of §40-6-273 requires immediate notice to police and says nothing about a written report or a 10-day deadline. What the Code does preserve is a local requirement: §40-6-274 and §40-6-275(e) say they do not affect a driver’s duty to file any written report that a local law enforcement agency requires, and §40-9-31 tells agencies to send GDOT reports they prepare and reports “submitted to such agency by a member of the public.” If police did not come to the scene, ask the police department or sheriff’s office for the area whether it wants a report from you.

What the report costs

$5 at GDOT and GSP; local varies

For reports held by GDOT, the fee is set by statute: $5.00 for each copy GDOT or its third-party designee provides (§40-9-30). GDOT’s mail-in form adds a $2 charge for a certified copy. The Department of Public Safety’s Charging Chart lists State Patrol crash reports at $5.00 each. For a local agency, the Open Records Act says that where a law sets a specific fee for a record, that fee applies; otherwise an agency may charge for search, retrieval and redaction at no more than the hourly rate of its lowest-paid qualified full-time employee, with no charge for the first quarter hour, plus up to 10 cents per page for letter or legal size copies (§50-18-71(c)(1), (2)). Example, Gwinnett County Police only: $5 per accident report at its precincts. Online vendors may add their own fee, so check the total before you pay.

When the report is ready

Sent to GDOT within 14 days

Agencies must submit crash reports to GDOT within 14 days when they file electronically, and otherwise within 15 days after the end of the month in which the report was prepared or received (§40-9-31). DPS says State Patrol reports requested through EPORTS are generally processed within three business days after you submit the request. GDOT’s mail-in form says a mailed request takes at least two weeks and points you to BuyCrash for faster service. Example, Gwinnett County Police only: hard copies are typically available four business days after the report was taken. We found no official statement of how long GDOT or local agencies keep crash reports.

Who can get a copy

Parties, or anyone with a stated need

Individual crash reports are exempt from Georgia’s Open Records Act except as §50-18-72(a)(5) allows. Anyone whose name or identifying information is in the report is entitled to a copy, personally or through a lawyer or other representative. Anyone else must give the custodian a written statement of need showing that the requester (A) has a personal, professional or business connection with a party to the crash; (B) owns or leases an interest in property damaged in it; (C) was injured by it; (D) witnessed it; (E) insures a party or damaged property; (F) is a prosecutor or public law enforcement officer; (G) is alleged to be liable to another party because of it; (H) is an attorney who needs the report for a criminal case or to investigate a claim that a roadway, railroad crossing or intersection is unsafe; (I) represents a news media organization and submits the required statement; (J) is doing public-interest research such as crash prevention, but only for crashes more than 60 days old and with names, street addresses, phone numbers and license numbers redacted; or (K) is a government official or agency carrying out its duties. Reports are not available in bulk without a statement of need for each one, and knowingly making a false statement in a news media request is a crime (§50-18-72(a)(5)(I)). GDOT’s mail-in form and the DPS request form both ask you to check how you are connected to the crash.

What to do now

1. 1

   Call police from the scene if required

   If anyone is hurt or killed or damage looks like $500 or more, call police right away. If no one is seriously hurt and the cars can be driven safely, move them off the road.

2. 2

   Get the agency name and report number

   Ask the officer which agency is writing the report and for the report number. BuyCrash searches by last name and crash date plus the report number, VIN or license number.

3. 3

   Buy the report from GDOT or the agency

   Use BuyCrash or GDOT’s mail-in form, or EPORTS for a State Patrol crash: $5 at GDOT and the State Patrol. If you are not named in the report, give a written statement of need.

4. 4

   Request video separately, now

   The crash report does not include video. Ask the police agency for body camera and dashcam video under the Open Records Act, and do not count on GDOT’s cameras, which 511GA says do not record.

Frequently asked questions